Institute for Public Policy (IPP) will monitor the implementation of the already made statements of the recently elected President of the Deputies Chamber, Mrs. Roberta Anastase with regards to transparency and accountability of the parliamentarians’ activity.

In a recent meeting with the President of the Chamber, IPP required that, starting with the first parliamentary session of the Chamber’s current mandate, 3 vital inquiries will be implemented in order to strengthen transparency and credibility of the Parliament in relation to the voters.

1. Publishing detailed information of spending and activity of each member of the Parliament. Information should be disclosed based on the own initiative of the Chambers’ leaders and should emphasize the: monthly salary of the MP, his/her monthly costs for the constituency office, travelling to the territory, travelling to various missions assigned by the Chamber as well as the costs for phone and accommodation in Bucharest. All these costs should be made public, including the State budget effort to ensure the transportation of MPs by using the cars belonging to the Parliament.
2. Replacing the procedure of filling in the attendance list by each MP whenever entering the plenary hall with registering the attendance by voting cards thus benefiting from the electronic devises that will allow for an instant display of information on the website.
3. Linking the information regarding the attendance with clear provisions in the Standing Orders regarding the dismissal of the MP in case of an increased number of missed sessions within the mandate.
4. A stricter monitoring of all activities performed by the MPs in the territory, at the constituency offices. Displaying of this detailed information is important as well as the information on the costs related to the local offices.

Public statements as well as recent changes of the electoral system based on which citizens elect their representatives in the Parliament based on uninominal system require that the leadership of the current Parliament will immediately take urgent measures to increase transparency while also implementing existing regulations for sanctioning those, regarding their political positions, who are not performing according to their mandate.

IPP already suggested concrete amendments of the Chambers Internal Regulations following the commitment of the current leadership of the Chamber in actually enforcing these statements made during the electoral campaign.

For any further question, please contact Adrian Moraru, Deputy Director, IPP or Violeta Alexandru, Director at phone: 021 212 3126, cell phone 0724 237 229 or 0723 257 640

2012